We live in very challenging times. As we go through school we are taught that if you work hard and go to college, then you will get a good job and live happily ever after.

Sadly, the reality is life for twenty somethings isn’t quite that simple. The job market is still bad enough that many of the jobs traditionally reserved for recent college graduates are being filled by people with more experience.

There seems to be a proverbial log jam in the job market. Employers are not promoting or expanding at fast enough rates to provide jobs for young professionals.

The cascading effect is people with bachelor’s degrees are forced to take jobs that either do not match their degree or do not require a degree at all. This problem is not exclusive to people with bachelor's degrees. Law school graduates can expect to be competing against literally hundreds of applicants for entry level jobs; most will not in fact find employment that requires a law degree.

Absent dramatic changes in the next few years, the above problem will cause the student loan bubble to burst. It is easy to understand why this will happen. If graduates cannot find good paying jobs, then they will not be able to make their student loan payments.

The amount of student loan debt has been on the rise for years. College tuition increases explain some of this. However, it is not the only cause for student loan debt.

Sadly many students, particularly those who attend community colleges, borrow much more than they actually need to cover tuition costs. This money theoretically is to be spent on other school expenses, but in reality is spent on frivolities such as big screen TV's, video games, clothes, etc.

Most of the student loan debt is financed by the Federal Government. So, when people are unable to pay back these loans taxpayers are on the hook for the expense.

How can we solve these problems? The simple and easy answer would of course be to unleash an economic boom. Unfortunately, at least in the near term, that seems unlikely to happen so let's focus on the things we can control.

First and foremost we need to stop pushing every man, women, and child toward a college education. The reality is there are plenty of good paying jobs that do not require a degree and not everyone is meant to go to college. Our education system needs to focus more on skilled trades.

When Governor Engler was in office an emphasis was put on vocational trades. There were many courses offered in these areas and some students were able to come out of high school with an actual skill.

The Granholm Administration got away from this. Instead of expanding and improving these programs they switched the focus back to strictly preparing students for college.

Page 2 of 2 - What's needed to rectify this situation is a policy and culture change. We need to not simply pay lip service to skilled trades programs; we need to make them a focal point of high school education. Skilled trades classes need to be placed on the same level as math, science, and reading.

Making this change will help our education system more accurately reflect our society. Not every student is the same. Thus, we should not expect a cookie cutter solution to work in our education system.For those that do choose to attend college; improvements to that system can be made as well.

Chief among them would be changes to the courses required to obtain a college degree. For the typical bachelor's degree, a student is required to complete exactly 30 credits in their major and 90 other credits for a total of 120 credits.

So, exactly 25% of a student's time, money, and effort is spent on courses directly related to their major. The other 75% is spent on prerequisites, electives, and other college-wide requirements. Simply taking the 30 credits required for the major is not an option; the degree requires the full 120 credits for completion.

Is it any wonder why a degree costs so much?

Advocates of the current system will submit that the other requirements make for a more well-rounded graduate and citizen. To that I would draw from my experience. I took all of these classes and I can say with certainty I learned a lot more from real life than I ever did from these classes.

Most of the time I would simply grit my teeth and write what I knew the professor wanted to hear in an effort to get through the course. Is that really what college should be about?

Should students, parents, and taxpayers be paying for courses that only serve the purpose of advancing a particular universities or person's worldview?

If we reform this system by cutting the amount of credits required for a college degree in half, imagine the impact this would have on our society. Students would be graduating in half the time at half the cost with the same amount of course work in their major.

Unless we address these issues I fear young people will struggle to get ahead for generations to come.

James Lower is an active member of the Ionia County Republican Party and former County Commissioner. He holds a Bachelor's Degree in Economics from Michigan State University and is a current MBA candidate at Grand Valley State University.